monsters and the kids who become them and the people who fight them

[theguideless]

Date & Time: 9/2 – 9/12, various times
Location: All throughout the city
Characters: See tags
Summary: A lot of people have to put up with an increasingly unstable kid
Warnings: Fightytimes violence, body horror, dead things



IN THE FAR-REACHING FUTURE OF AN ALT-EARTH, MONSTER-BASED ATTACKS ARE CONSIDERED ESPECIALLY RIDICULOUS. IN EXSILIUM, THE DEDICATED TRANSPORTS WHO ENDURE AND INVESTIGATE THESE VICIOUS HAPPENINGS ARE MEMBERS OF AN ELITE SQUAD KNOWN AS EXTRA-UNLUCKY BASTARDS.

THESE ARE THEIR STORIES.


The following threads coincide with the established timeline posted here and are arranged chronologically for participants' use if need/want be.

Comments

[stonefaith]

"All right," Bariyan said. He took his hand back, folded his arms over his knees. "I will wait."

He stayed. Perfectly still, not blinking, not breathing, as if afraid that the slightest motion will set Martin off. Perhaps it would. Koltira's very presence had been a threat, but Bariyan couldn't imagine that Roslyn or Anora or any of the others had done anything to provoke Martin. Anything that would normally provoke him.

But he was coiled, tense, waiting. If Martin made a bolt for it, Bariyan would be ready.

[theguideless]

Go away.

Martin squirmed, and his fingers curled out of hold and into fists, knuckled against his eyelids. Dragging them away, blearily seeing Bariyan still there...Something bad had happened. A lot of bad things had happened. Had to. He knew, somehow. Definitely. But he didn't know-know...He couldn't explain.

"I donh gno," he cried, letting his fists fall to his collarbone. Wretched. He was absolutely wretched and awful. Go away! "Gho away!"

[stonefaith]

"I can't," Bariyan said, sounding far more patient than he felt. "And I won't."

He resisted the urge to push forwards a little more. Any further and he would perhaps come off as aggressive, could be viewed as an attempt to corner Martin against the wall. So Bariyan stayed where he was, fighting his instincts.

"I know you don't know," Bariyan said, urgently. "I know, Martin. But it's all right. You can come back."

[theguideless]

Back? Martin's face scrunched up, not understanding. Back to...Home? Or. Well, it was always the room. Maybe if he pinned the door shut and pushed the...

The mattress against the...

Martin froze up, feeling a sharp tightness in his chest and the welling up of so much adrenaline.

Anora.

"No!"

His shoes scuffed and scraped against the ground as he scrambled wildly to his feet, clawing at the wall to find handholds for support. He let out a whimpering, sobbing sound, cut short by too little breath. I can't breathe! He grabbed at his throat, falling back against the wall. Anora. "Agh, ha–! N–!"

[stonefaith]

Bariyan sprung into action, registering Martin's sudden motion as an attempt to bolt. He was back up on his feet and two steps closer when he realized that he was mistaken. He stopped, drew his shoulders together, and took a moment to watch before moving again.

"Hey." Bariyan could barely hear himself over Martin's wheezing. He took a few steps closer. "Martin. Stay with me."

And then he was there, reaching for Martin's wrists -- the skin, changed and strange even under Bariyan's numb senses -- trying to pry them away from Martin's throat. Gentle, careful to keep his actions steady, all the while nearly out of his mind with fear. Fear that Martin would retaliate, fear that he would break free, fear that he would escape yet again.

[theguideless]

There had been hot anger and red smells and – no, that was blood – and...Martin barely realized Bariyan had laid hands on him until he stopped feeling the pinpricks of pressure around his neck.

He tensed again, frozen for only a single, hot second, before his body moved. Harshly, Martin yanked against the grip, ducking his body down to make for the opening just under Bariyan's arm, groaning and growling with frustration.

[stonefaith]

"No!"

Martin had managed to break out of Bariyan's grip, but Bariyan twisted himself with Martin's motion and threw his arm out into Martin's path, meaning to catch him. He lost balance somewhere along the way and went down on a knee, hard, barely noticing.

Stay, goddammit, stay with me--

[theguideless]

He'd forgotten what he was fighting, what he was afraid of. Every thought was simply get away or else – Martin didn't even wonder what or else could mean. It couldn't be good. Something awful had happened, and something worse was going to, he knew–

The big shape now in his way only fueled his blind panic, dropping him back to instinct. Instinct set his palms down before him and hunched his body forward, conjuring the lance to launch him up and up – his body twisting and straightening to adjust his course and latch onto the wall with those claws of him. Once his feet found the wall as well, he pushed away, to catch the building adjacent, and in that back and forth way, he scaled up to the roof, vanishing from sight but not from sound.

One more lance to catch his fall as he leaped out into the air before him, and Martin rolled back to the ground a distance away, scrambling into a run.

[stonefaith]

Bariyan flinched back when he saw Martin start to conjure. He knew that whatever happened, there was nothing that he could do to stop it. He flinched, too, because he half-expected that in a moment, he would look down and find bone splintering into and through his chest....

But instead there was scrabbling, a landing, an escape that he could not prevent. Finding himself uninjured, Bariyan quickly retreated back out into the square to try and follow Martin's actions -- an exercise in futility until Martin leapt back to the ground again, much further away. But at least that brought the boy back into sight.

Cursing, Bariyan gave chase.

[deathwalker]

Lance had been wandering the city for a few hours now and was bored. Aside from the new technology and strange machines, the city didn't differ much from the ones he'd been to back home. Having seen enough for one day he had started heading back to the Hold, keeping to the lighted streets.

Lance walked out into the square, paying more attention to the street names and where he was going rather than to the shape that had just leapt off the building across the way.

[theguideless]

And just like that, there was something else drumming in Martin's throbbing ears. Aside from the rhythm of his pace, somehow, he could hear it – practically feel it.

Beating heart. Pumping blood. Instinctively, Martin was veering toward it, the cause of his flight evaporating from his mind. There was no voice in his head asking him why? Where? What for?

There was just drumming.

[stonefaith]

Bariyan was too focused on Martin to notice Lance until the boy suddenly turned. Bariyan's eyes widened, and he grimaced. Damn, damn.

"Lance!" Bariyan shouted, his voice still a wreck, but now loud enough to carry over the square. He said no more. The sight of Martin hurtling forwards would have to serve as the rest of his warning.

At the same time, Bariyan finally made his lunge. Hoping to get at Martin before the boy reached Lance. Gods, he should have just put Martin to sleep when he had the chance....

[deathwalker]

Lance looked up when he heard his name shouted from across the square to see some kid running at him followed by and upset looking Bariyan. He'd never seen the kid before and hadn't a clue who he was but, there was something....off about him. Whatever it was, Lance wasn't interested in finding out and quickly glanced around the square for an escape route. Seeing nothing close enough to be worth trying for he settled into a fighting stance, his silver sliding down his arm, forming into a long pole.

If he could cripple the kid, Lance could escape and leave Bariyan to take care of....whatever was going on.

[theguideless]

Approaching, Martin hunched, opening his posture by letting his arms out at his sides. His eyes widened, wholly focused in the meat in front of him, the flickering glimmer of the lance. He'd break it, like the bones...

His arms were thrust forward, and then down, and the lance launched him up in an arc; the second sent him spiraling downward, and with a heave, he sent the lance ahead of him. Break. Bleed.

TOO MANY LANCES IN ONE SCENE TBH

[stonefaith]

Bariyan had rather been hoping that Lance would have the sense to flee -- he wasn't pleased to look up and see Lance ready for a fight instead. Anger and horror flashed in his eyes before he turned his attention back to Martin. Who, in the space of time that it'd taken for Bariyan to check up on Lance, had managed to launch himself into the air.

Bariyan whirled back towards Lance, and changed course.

"I thought you'd run!" Growled, as he threw himself into Lance without courtesy. Hoping to shove the man out of the way before he got himself impaled by the lance coming down at both of them.

Just call the short, elfy one Jerkface

[deathwalker]

Lance rolled back up onto his feet, switching his staff for a short short stiletto, and moved to put Bariyan between himself and Martin.

"Well, running doesn't really seem to be an option now does it?"

Then a thought occurred to him. Bariyan was dead. Sure, he's walking around and conscious but he's still dead...and dead things are oh, so useful.
Lance made a small cut on one of the fingers of his right hand and began watching for an opportunity to make his move.

my vote is LANCESEMPAI

[theguideless]

Martin was still on the move, only angrier for the blockade. Striking or not, the former projectile was dust and forgotten while a new one flew out from his arm, caught before completely free. Gripped tightly, Martin continued his charge, letting the bladed tip scrape against the ground before he swung it in a long horizontal at the both of them.

LANCESEMPAI PLS NOTICE ME

[stonefaith]

The lance struck Bariyan in the shoulder before it disintegrated. It halted his progress, forced him to stumble to a halt. As it fell to dust, he straightened up to look for Martin again, but hesitated. Just long enough to look down at the injury and back at Lance. He swung a hand out, a gesture for Lance to leave--

That pause cost him. Bariyan spotted the next strike coming out of the corner of his eye, too late for him to get out of the way. He turned to face it as it struck him, and instinct had him throw his arms up. The tip bit into his skin as it slid across. The force threw him back into Lance.

Does stabbing count?

[deathwalker]

Lance staggered under Bariyan's weight and shoved him back towards Martin, using the opportunity to stab Bariyan in the back. If Lance was lucky, there was enough blood on the knife for the necromancy to work. If not...well, he'd figure it out when he got there.

It takes a few minutes for necromancy to stick and Lance stepped back a bit further from Martin and Bariyan. He felt vaguely bad for using it on someone who's actually aware of what's going on but Bariyan is already dead and Lance isn't. He intends to keep it that way.

ofc it does look at where you are

[theguideless]

Martin, too, backed to avoid any oncoming bodies, having to stagger aside with the weight of the weapon still in motion. He released it, and it was dust, but still the force made him turn. He staggered and dropped to a knee to ultimately stop, swiveling his head to snarl at his victim-attackers.

It might not've been worth the trouble, taking on the two of them, but where was reason but anywhere but with him?

[stonefaith]

For once, Bariyan's numbness to pain worked against him. He did not feel the knife in his back, and had no idea that Lance had done anything at all. In fact, Bariyan only took a split second to turn and make sure that Lance was all right, then returned his focus to Martin.

He looked at the crouched figure and felt a pang. Whatever was afflicting Martin, it had rendered him barely recognizable.

Bariyan held his breath and started to approach the boy again, slowly. "Martin...."

[deathwalker]

So the kid's name was Martin. Interesting. Lance filed this away as potentially handy information and stepped a little to the left to get a better look at Martin. Something was obviously wrong with him. Lance could hazard a few guesses but he'd puzzle it out later.

Lance willed Bariyan to stop moving and smirked as Bariyan froze. He had expected manipulating Bariyan to be difficult as Bariyan wasn't an empty corpse. Good. Things just got a whole lot easier.

[theguideless]

Lance's imposition of power sparked an unhappy reaction in Martin; the stink of it – a dark and gloomy power – invigorated his resolve to retaliate. Martin's teeth bared and eyes dilate, blind to the familiar. Bariyan was meat in the way of the problem; Martin would power through it.

The next weapon flew.

[stonefaith]

Again, Bariyan did not notice that anything was immediately wrong. He merely blinked down at himself, hands and feet suddenly stuck in place and thought strange.

Then his gaze flickered up and he saw the lance headed straight for him.

Bariyan tried to move, again, to dodge it -- but he went nowhere, and the point cracked through his shoulder, splintering bone as it went. He made a futile attempt to wrench himself away from it. Nothing.

Panic started to settle in.

ZOMBIRIYAN, I CHOOSE YOU!

[deathwalker]

He winced slightly as the lance punched through Bariyan's shoulder.
Lance had been hoping Martin wouldn't have reacted that fast while he was still trying to familiarize himself with controlling a "living" corpse. The damage was unfortunate but it didn't seem to be affecting Bariyan too much

Lance willed Bariyan into a lunge at Martin; throwing a punch as he moved.